Here’s an idea. The Taliban are now working with the drug lords to provide protection to the poppy crop in exchange for a cut in the revenue.

Why don’t we buy the entire crop – preferably directly from the farmers – and destroy it? In exchange we handle the protection. According to the CIA Factbook, the opium trade is worth $4 billion. That’s probably an inflated street value. Would it be worth say $2 billion a year to stabilize the country – as well as get Afghanistan opium and heroin off the streets?